Greg and I are at the airport waiting to board our flight. We’re taking a two week trip to Europe to visit family and friends, and do a little work on the side. My precious Papa lives in Arnhem in the Netherlands so we’ll be going there first. Then off to Amsterdam, Brussels, Antwerp, Zurich and Milan.

We’ll reduce the frequency of posts while we’re away, but there will be at least one a day. If things go really well I will write some thoughts along the way. Failing that we’ll do a series when we return. Either way, I’m excited to share Spring 2010’s Euro trends with you so stay tuned.

I might be in the absolute minority with this opinion but here it is: I do not believe in packing light for airplane travel! By packing light, I mean only packing a carry-on for a week’s trip or longer. Don’t get me wrong, I’m vehemently against paying any kind of overweight and have so far never paid for extra poundage at the baggage check-in counter. And like you, I loathe traipsing around overly heavy suitcases. But I’m not one to only pack a carry-on unless it’s an overnight or weekend stay and I’m travelling alone. I have a baggage allowance and I like to use it.

I travel abroad frequently and I have my own packing system that works well for me. For a trip that’s 4 days or longer, I’ll pack up to ten pounds below my baggage allowance that goes into the hold (the allowance is usually 50 pounds), and carry a virtually empty carry-all plus a large handbag for the flight.

For the suitcase that goes into the hold, I meticulously plan an outfit for each day of the trip, mixing and matching as far as possible, with one or two spare options. I also plan a few going-out-at-night outfits and rotate them as necessary. I try to get by with minimum pairs of shoes but pack lots of accessories and one extra handbag, so that I have two handbags on my trip, and possibly a clutch too (can’t help it handbags are my thing). I carry small bottles of my toiletries and sometimes pack slippers as well. In summary, I like to wear clean clothes on most days of the trip, do a little bit of laundry along the way and still have options.

I also like to bring back things from our trip which means that I need the extra space. Packing a full carry-on on the way there doesn’t allow for the extra space to do this.

I fully understand the advantages of packing light too. You don’t wait at baggage claim, and lugging around a smaller lighter suitcase is infinitely easier than lugging around a larger heavier one. You also have less to pack and unpack at your destination. But I really don’t mind waiting at baggage claim and I’m very used to dragging what I pack, using public transport to get to the hotel in most instances. I’m also fine with unpacking and packing it all in our hotel room. The assurance that I have all that I need with options far outweighs the advantages of packing light.

So I’m not a heavy packer, but I’m not a light packer either. How and what I pack really works for me.  Of course, things might be different if my trips had me spending less than a few days in each destination. Greg went through a stage of doing business trips that covered 5 countries in a week and in that situation traveling with one over-nighter makes a lot of sense.  What’s your packing strategy? Do you like to travel light, not so light, or are you a heavy traveler? What would you like to change about your packing strategy?

Often the time that we budget for getting ready in the morning is cut short. So unless we already had a good idea of what we were going to wear that day, we need what I call a “fast fall back outfit” (FFBO). The FFBO is a no-brainer, tried and tested outfit combination that you feel great wearing, AND takes you two secs to put together.

Fast fall back outfits will vary and you may have more than one. I have two generic FFBO combinations:

• Dress and boots, or ballet flats depending on the season
• Skinny jeans tucked into flat boots with turtle neck and jacket

As much as I love skirts and wear them regularly, they take the longest to style. I also very rarely wear slacks or walk shorts, so if I’m not in jeans, I’m either in a dress or skirt.

It might be worthwhile to create several FFBOs if you don’t have them already. You could even go so far as to plan the exact outfit combinations in advance. For example, the following ensemble is a more specific interpretation of my first generic FFBO:

• Charcoal sheath dress
• Dove grey cascading cardigan
• Textured hose
• Chestnut slouch boots
• Gold accessories
• Blue handbag

I know this outfit is a winner. I can grab it and feel fabulous in no time at all. Just what the doctor ordered when you only have a minute to decide what to wear.

Do you have fast fall back outfits? If so, what are they? If not, do you think they’re worth the effort?

Turquoise is one of the “it” colours this season, so if you fancy a turquoise handbag, stock up in the next six months. But turquoise is not the only option in blue handbags. Think cobalt, teal, ink blue and royal blue as well. Dark blue bags look great with jeans because they pick up the colour of denim. Bright turquoise bags look fabulous with white, apple green, yellow, rich purple, coral and tomato red. Teal bags look amazing with muted reds, chartreuse, dark purple and earth tones.

I have a three year old, dark cobalt blue patent snake skin handbag which I like to wear with black, white and turquoise ensembles. But really, as long as I wear dark blue jeans or a denim jacket, my blue bag works with the outfit.  It took me a little while to get used to pairing a dark blue bag with outfits, but as soon as I got my head around it I was smitten with the look. In many instances, my dark blue handbag has become my “black” bag.

The addition of a new handbag makes existing outfits look and feel new. The power of accessories knows no bounds. So who’s liking the idea of a blue hued handbag?